215 rotten suckling pigs seized before delivery

VietNamNet Bridge – A week after the seizure of 8.4 tons of rotten cattle meat in Binh Duong Province, a joint inspection team in neighboring Ho Chi Minh City has seized 215 decomposed suckling pigs and a large amount of rotten pigskin loaded onto two buses for delivery.

VietNamNet Bridge – A week after the seizure of 8.4 tons of rotten cattle meat in Binh Duong Province, a joint inspection team in neighboring Ho Chi Minh City has seized 215 decomposed suckling pigs and a large amount of rotten pigskin loaded onto two buses for delivery.

Following a tip-off from the public, city veterinary officers and other forces yesterday examined two buses in the yard of Cam Van Co Ltd, located at 49 Tan Thanh, Hoa Thanh Ward, Tan Phu District.

Inside bus number 43X-2266, the inspectors found three cartons containing 67 dead suckling pigs and two bags of pigskin – all rotten and stinking.

On the cartons and bags, the name of the good owner was only listed as “Trang”.

Curiously, three of these cartons were attached with animal quarantine certificates issued by the Quang Ngai Province Veterinary Sub-Department.

The team continued inspecting the other bus, 53S-2232, and discovered another 10 cartons containing 148 suckling pigs, 7 cartons of pig fat, and 5 bags of pigskin – all in the initial stage of decomposition.

The bus driver, Huynh Van Thau, of Binh Dinh Province, said he had been hired by a trader to transport the decaying goods to HCMC.

Thau said he had been paid VND50,000 (US$2.4) per carton transported.

The total weight of the goods seized from the two buses was 1.35 tons, the inspectors said. None of the goods met regulations on food safety and hygiene, said Vu Minh Chien, head of the district Health Department.

Nguyen An Hoa, deputy chief inspector of the HCMC Veterinary Sub-department, said that Cam Van Co Ltd would have to pay for the cost of destroying the items.

The agency would work with the Quang Ngai Province Veterinary Sub-Department regarding the quarantine certificates it had issued for the three cartons of rotten suckling pigs, Hoa said.

A similar seizure occurred on April 18 in Binh Duong Province, where a joint inspection team detected 8.4 tons of rotten cattle meat and organs which would have been sold to restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City after being processed, thanks to information provided by Tuoi Tre.

The discovery, which was made at Trien Khanh Private Enterprise in Thuan An Town, included one ton of pig tripe stored at room temperature and four more tons of pig tripe, as well as 3.4 tons of pig, cow and buffalo legs kept in cold storage.